Liverpool XC: Euro Trials – Senior Women’s Preview

This Saturday’s Liverpool XC is my favourite race of the cross-country season. Not only is it fixture 2 of British Athletics Cross Challenge Series, it’s also the trials race for the Great Britain team for the European XC Champs. It’s my favourite race as a fan of the sport, because a number of the top athletes haven’t faced each other at cross-country since March – making the results hard to predict and the racing always exciting. Plus, this fixture is also part of the Liverpool & District League and the Mid-Lancs League, meaning it attracts hundreds of athletes in the Senior races from internationals to enthusiastic club runners. 

At the sharp end of the field, runners will be battling it out for 1 of 6 places on the British team for the European XC Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on 8^th December. With only the top 3 guaranteed selection and the U23s racing alongside the seniors, competition will be fierce with only Gemma Steel a dead-cert for a place on the start line in Belgrade. With Julia Bleasdale returning from injury since her 8^th places over 5km and 10km at the 2012 Olympics, now out of Liverpool with a cold, she could take one of the 3 discretionary spots after showing good form with a 56 second victory over Tish Jones at the Surrey League and a 23^rd place at the Cross de Atapuerca in Spain.

This Autumn’s road racing circuit has seen dominant performances from Gemma Steel at the Birmingham Half Marathon and National Road Relay Champs, with a whole host of others running well across the Run Britain and Great Run series. Louise Damen and Tish Jones both set PBs at last weekends’ Leeds Abbey Dash, whilst Charlotte Purdue made a spectacular return to racing at a very windy Great South Run. Purdue will hope to have progressed from there and come to Liverpool in the form to challenge Steel, but Damen is focusing on the roads this Winter and won’t be competing. Purdue’s Aldershot team mates will be competitive as well – Steph Twell’s pedigree over road, track and cross country means you can never discount her whilst Lily Partridge, this year’s Southern XC Champion clocked the fastest leg at the National XC Relays a couple of weeks ago, as well as making an encouraging half marathon debut at Birmingham where she finished 4^th in 74:55. Partridge should be set to compete in her 5^th successive European XC Champs, most likely in the U23 team but could challenge for a top 6 place overall. 

Few athletes have faced each other over 8km of mud and grass yet this season, so it will be interesting to see whether Gemma Steel’s dominance on the road is challenged on the country by the top performers so far this Winter. At the opening fixture of the British Athletics Cross Challenge at Bristol, a small but high quality field fought it out in the first major XC race of the season, with Katie Brough finishing 4 seconds clear of Juliet Potter. With Lauren Deadman, Stevie Stockton, Jane Potter and Emma Clayton completing the top 6 here, they should all be in the mix for a top 6 spot at Liverpool. Others we can expect to see near the front of the race on Saturday include U23 Beth Potter and Trafford AC’s Jacqueline Fairchild who ran Bristol winner Katie Brough close in the opening fixture of the Manchester League and backed this up with the 4^th fastest leg at the National XC Relays. Lauren Howarth is another to show great form on the roads this Autumn, in addition to her 6th place finish over 3km at the European Indoor Champs back in March. Elle Baker, Emily Wicks and Rosie Smith were all GB representatives last winter and can’t be discounted this year either should they race. Last year’s breakthrough act, Caryl Jones, may be coming back in to form but she’s yet to show she can follow up on her 15^th place at last year’s European XC. Aly Dixon, not known as a cross country runner, is returning from the injury that put paid to her Autumn Marathon plans and could be another to watch.

Saturday should see a highly competitive race with good indications for team success in Serbia in a fortnight’s time. Will Purdue or any others challenge Steel over 8km of undulating grass and mud? We look forward to finding out!

Expanding the Blog

For a few weeks now I’ve been considering expanding the subject matter of my blog. Over the last couple of years I’ve been writing quite regularly and often quite less regularly about myself. I’m not sure I’m interesting enough to justify producing such a large amount of words on! Some weeks I just do my training almost exactly the same as the week before. Some weeks I do exciting races in other countries, or do training sessions so ridiculously epic that they deserve their own entry in cyber-space (but the former hasn’t happened this year and the latter happens very rarely and only because of Don Nichol at Altrincham AC in the depths of Winter!). But most of the time I’m just being me, running, cycling and swimming around. And there’s only so much that can be said about that!

So instead of continuing to write endlessly about what I’ve been doing, I’m going to treat my avid readers to blogs on what I’ve been thinking about. I regularly subject my boyfriend to lengthy one-sided discussions (rants) about sports related issues that are consuming my thoughts, and whilst I’m sure he does love listening to them, he has suggested that they could add a new dimension to my blog. Perhaps he thinks my views on sport are so well-informed and interesting they really need to be shared with the wider world, or perhaps he’s just had enough of hearing about my outrage at the lottery funding or non-funding of athletes he’s never heard of. Regardless, I’m going to expand my blog to cover my thoughts on sports as well as my own adventures in sports.

Please do leave comments if you disagree/agree with what I’m saying and feel free to share my blogs with other passionate sports fans!

Watch this space...

Coming back from Injury

If you’ve not read every single moan I’ve written in this blog, then you’ve missed a lot of complaining about all the races I’ve missed: big races, World Championships, small races, team races, track races, road races, duathlons, triathlons – everything from 400m on the track to Olympic distance triathlon. I wouldn’t recommend you read my old blog posts, unless you’re feeling so entirely out-of-this-world positive that you need a bit of negativity to bring you back to reality. Being injured is a pain – actually a pain; walking, driving, sleeping, sitting etc were all a pain, never mind trying to run, bike or swim. And on top of that it’s a bit of a mental battle as you see every sporting thing you’d planned going ahead without you – races still go on, everyone else keeps on training, sporting social circles continue to exist without you. You’re confined to the side lines of what had been a core part of your life, and it’s hard to stay positive during these times. No matter what other activities you fill your time with or how you make the most of the extra time and seize the opportunity to focus on other interests, there’s no denying that when you can’t do something you love and are passionate about, things get a little tough.

I absolutely love my sport(s) and everything they bring to my life. I love running. Every time I see somebody else running, even if I’ve already run that day, I will wish I was running. Every time I see water, I wish I was swimming in it – and I’ve been that way as long as I can remember. And every time I see a cyclist speeding along beautiful country roads, I usually wish I could cycle as well as them and then I wish I was cycling! As I’ve said before, the social side of sport is fantastic – the camaraderie from being part of a team, the friends you make training and competing and the like-minded people you meet everywhere you run, bike or swim! Seeing friends work hard in training and improve is always inspiring, and I love how happy people are when they’ve had a good race. It’s a great world to be part of and although I do love getting good results of my own, I knew I’d be happier as soon as I was back in my sporting world instead of letting it all pass me by, following my friends triumphs and tribulations from the side lines.

So after missing a lot of races, less than 2 months ago I decided I’d had quite enough of not racing. Even if I was going to be racing quite slowly, I wanted to be part of it all again. Since then I’ve done a few road races and some short cross-country races – 5km is my limit till I manage to get some more training in. I was hoping I’d be able to race myself back to a reasonable level of fitness. For me, no training every matches the intensity of racing. I would say I can push myself quite hard in training, hit times on reps that I need to – but I often have another gear in racing that I can never find in training. Must be my competitiveness!

It’s taken 6 weeks, but I now feel like I’m able to race hard over 5km, which is a huge improvement on where I was at the end of September, running XC races in trainers and having to take a few days off a week. I’ve had my first top 10 XC finish of the season, finishing 7^th at the North Staffs league in Stafford, plus a week later I clocked a decent 5km time of 18:58 in the Telford ParkRun. I’ve had a great time racing again, training back on the track with my team mates and enjoying some lovely runs round the countryside. I’m definitely a lot more positive about everything than I was 2 months ago, but whilst I’m on my way back, I’m certainly not there yet and this weekend reminded me how far I still have to go.

This weekend was the Grafham Water Duathlon that I had optimistically entered a few weeks back when British Triathlon suddenly announced a raft of late season races which would be qualifiers for next years’ European Duathlon Champs. After missing pretty much every single big race I wanted to do this year, I was really annoyed that the qualifiers had been moved 5 months ahead of their normal schedule, giving me very little chance of getting fit enough to qualify. Regardless of this, I entered the race and hoped that I would be able to take part. Last weekend I was out on my bike, and after 30 minutes cycling I had a bit of an epiphany…no matter how much I wanted to race, it was very unlikely my body would actually hold up! It didn’t matter how much I “wanted it”, there was to be no battle of mind over matter, I simply had not been able to do the training to even make it round the course. And if I tried there was a definite risk of making my injury worse. So I didn’t race this weekend, which of course means I didn’t qualify for the European Duathlon Champs in 5 months’ time. Luckily though, the World Duathlon Champs are a mere 6 months away, and the races to qualify for the British team are a good 4 months away still, giving me plenty of time to get back to full fitness. Needless to say I am a little annoyed that these late season qualification races were announced with only a few weeks’ notice. My annoyance comes from not having time to regain fitness after injury, but I know a number of my fellow duathletes are a little annoyed at having last minute additions to their already long seasons, which for many started with the British Champs back in March. I believe the normal Spring qualification races were moved to the preceding Autumn as a result of the poor weather conditions we experienced this Spring which prevented some of the qualification races from going ahead as planned – so I can understand the logic here, I just would have liked it to have fitted in with my return from injury a little better!

So, what’s next? Well I’ll be aiming for a few Spring Duathlons now and the World Duathlon Champs in Spain. Over the Winter I’ve got a good few XC races to go at with the Midlands and National XC Champs being my target races. I’m also hoping to get in a couple of 10km races as I build up my training, so I’ve got plenty to keep me motivated to get back to full fitness. And if my love of running wasn’t enough, I’ve got lots of club races with the hope of team prizes and cakes to look forward to as well!

Lovin' the team!

TEAM TELFORD!

"Team" has been a major motivation for me over the last couple of weeks as my training and racing has all been geared towards team competition.
Although running is an individual sport and can never be considered a team sport in the way that football and hockey can, the Winter season is full of team competitions that mean I want to run the best I can, not just for myself but for my team mates as well.
In fact, looking at my race calendar for the next few months I've only got 2 races scheduled this side of Christmas where I'll be running solely for myself as an individual, though those are both races where I have high individual goals so the pressure will still be on!

I'm very lucky to have been part of a fantastic women's team for the last few years - in fact I've been a member of Telford AC since I started training, but I feel really lucky to have such a great group of ladies to train and compete with over the last few year. Together we've had successes some of us would never have had as individuals - we've won league cross country competitions, medals at the Midlands Cross Country Championships, Midlands Road Relay Championships and even a silver medal at the National XC Championships a few years ago.
When I started back running a couple of years ago after a long period of injury, it was the Telford AC ladies who encouraged me on what were initially very short runs, and then longer runs till eventually I was back racing. I can say with all certainty that if it wasn't for this fabulous group that I wouldn't have made it back to the level I'm at now. Thank you girls!

This Winter we've got a few league competitions, North Wales and North Staffs XC where I know if everybody runs well we've got a chance of winning the league - and that's a fantastic thing to be part of. Personally I'm aiming for a few top 10 places and after missing a whole summer with injury I'm delighted to have already scored a 12th and an 11th place finish in each of the respective leagues. What's even more fantastic is that as a team we've finished 1st in each of these races, giving us a great start to the season. It's pretty exciting to be aiming for some silverware as a team and makes the races that bit more important and interesting.

Last year we took a surprise 3rd at the Midlands Cross Country Champs and I can still remember how hard I worked over the last 1/2 mile to overtake runners who I knew were likely to be scoring runners from rival clubs. I felt far more motivated to work hard up the last hill knowing that finishing 50th instead of 51st could be the difference between a bronze medal and nothing. In the end we took bronze by a single point - and we all went home from that race far happier than if we'd raced as individuals and just had our individual results to celebrate.
Every time we get together and run well as a team, it's so much better than just pottering round on my own! If I have a bad run, there's a whole group of friends there to pick me up, encourage me on and tell me next time will be better - and that counts for everyone! And regardless of how well anybody runs, we always have a fantastic day out.

Here we are on a lovely day out in Bangor:

So why have I suddenly been struck by the importance of the team?
2 reasons - firstly, racing triathlon and duathlon over most of the year I've missed out on the team atmosphere, and being back within that for the cross country season has really emphasized the difference having a good team makes.
Secondly, this weekend we competed in the National Road Relay Championships - the first National Champs of the Winter season and a great event. It really is one of the best social occassions of the Winter calendar, providing an opportunity to meet up with running friends from all over the country without the unfriendly snow of February's National XC Champs. The National Road Relays is all about TEAM (it's pretty hard to finish a relay without any team mates!) and this weekend brought together the best teams from all over the country. Aldershot, Farnham & District took the womens title for the umpteenth consecutive year and broke the course record, showing what a team of superstars they are. With every single athlete on their team having represented Great Britain or England they were always going to be unbeatable. I don't think any other team had a recent World or European Junior Champion, but AFD had 2!

Now we're not a team of superstars, but we do have our super runner, Claire Martin as team captain and leg 1 runner. Claire's been consistently among the top 20 in the country for the last 20 years and she doesn't seem to be slowing down at all! Despite being by far and away the fastest runner on the team, she seems just as delighted as the rest of us when we get a good result as a team. However there is a downside to having one runner who's super speedy...whoever runs the leg after her on the relays knows they're likely to be overtaken by a few teams! Claire brought us back in 9th with a great run, 18 seconds faster than she clocked at the Midlands version of this event 3 weeks ago. Nellie took over on 2nd and also took 18 seconds off her Midlands time to handover to Michelle in 31st place before I ran the last leg, running a few seconds faster than 3 week ago. Last time I ran the 2nd leg and had a lot of athletes around me and really enjoyed moving through the field overtaking 18 teams on my way. This time I was quite isolated on last leg and didn't enjoy it quite so much, though the rain may have had something to do with that as well! I'm definitely more of a racer than a time trial-er and I'm looking forward to some actual "races" over the next few weeks now.

Together we finished 32nd in the Nationals and everyone was really pleased with their runs. We were also 7th of the Midlands teams - not a bad performance at all and a great day out...made even better by the Costa Coffee that's just opened at Sutton Park. A post race Chocolate Orange Mocha kept me awake for the rest of the day and our Telford AC girls night out.
Here's the full team about to enjoy a nice meal together - our first team outing for quite a while! Thanks girls for making running so much fun. Together we achieve so much - here's to a good Winter :)

P.S. Oh and thanks to Nellie for the lovely run through the field of cows - not every day we narrowly escape cows by climbing over barbed wire fences and through a compost heap! Crumpets and homemade jam totally made up for the trauma!

Ups and Downs

This really was a week of ups and downs - after a decent weekend with a surprisingly good race result, I really wanted to ramp up the training, but sensibly. Aware that the National Road Relays were only 3 weeks away I wanted to get some more running done and hopefully improve my time from the Midlands. And most of the week went very well. Until the end of the week when a few too many ups and downs caused me more knee/IT band problems!

Monday: 20 mins on the bike, physio exercises + foam roller

Tuesday: Grass XC session - in a Keith Brackstone/Mike Downs style from my days in Bristol I did a session of 6 mins, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1 w/  rec of 3, 2, 90s, 60s. I wanted to test out how my knee coped with running in XC spikes before another potential race at the weekend. It was a tough session and I really felt my lack of fitness, but I didn't have any problems with my knee or IT band and got some good stretching, core & physio exercises in later in the day.

Wednesday: 8 mile run. Accidentally ran more than the 5 miles I planned. The paths I'd planned to run down were closed due to sewage works and I ended up taking a detour that was much much longer than I thought. It was a good run though! Physio exercises & foam roller later.

Thursday: 5.5 mile run + strides. Feeling ok despite yesterday, physio exercises & foam roller

Friday: Gentle swim and a good 20 mins in the jacuzzi to try and water massage any stiffness in my legs from the last few days training.

Saturday: North Staffs XC - 11th.

Lisa, Juliet, Me, Amanda

So it was a decent result, and the highest I've ever finished in this league, but unfortunately that's not the whole story and I'm so unhappy with this race I can feel a proper good whinge coming on! I was expecting a 5km course, and looking at the course map and the results from last year, it definitely should have been 5km. However after running 1 lap it was clear this was going to be more like 4 miles! I woke up not feeling terribly enthusiastic for racing, and I guess my heart wasn't in it. Without the confidence of consistent training I set off a bit too slow and once gaps open up it can be tough to close them. I also really struggled with the distance and did at one point contemplate walking, until I realised I was doing quite well and it would be ridiculous to walk. I just slowed down a bit and took it a little easier. I also underestimated the effect of twists and turns in the woods and the undulating terrain. By the time I finished the race my knee and IT band were both very sore and warming down was pretty uncomfortable.
I felt like I hadn't really "raced" the race at all, apart from a nice sprint finish when I realised I had a mere 20m to go! Despite my individual disappointment it was a great day for the team - and that was my whole reason for racing today. With 11th (Me), 18th (Amanda - having a fantastic first XC race back after giving birth!), 27th (Juliet), 33rd (Lisa) and 46th (Sarah T) we finished 1st team in our division. Well done ladies! It's great to be part of such a fantastic team - delicious cake from Lisa and Juliet definitely cheered me up!

Lisa, Sarah T, Juliet, Me, Amanda

Sunday: I managed a very slow 1 mile jog before admitting that it was just too painful. Knee and IT band very much in need of some TLC. I'm not sure whether it was the terrain or the distance I raced on Saturday that's affected my injury so badly, or more likely a combination of both. Either way, I'm now a very grumpy non-runner for at least a couple of days till it eases off.

In the meantime I'm working on my Yoga and have a set of poses specifically for ITBS...which given my IT Band problems are exceptionally hard. They better work!!
One of the most frustrating things about being injured, apart from not being able to run, is not being able to plan! I love planning - racing, training, etc and not being able to even know if I'll be able to do a race in a couple of days let along plan my training for the next week is really annoying me. At least I can plan all my physio exercises and stretching...silver lining, yep!

Tentative Attempts at Racing

Following on from the success of managing a proper Sunday run - 8 miles!!! I was keen to push on this week and do some more serious training - however the longer run had definitely had an impact on my IT band / knee so I stuck to a very easy 4 miles on Monday.
On the Saturday I had the Midland Road Relays - one of my favourite events as it's a great social occasion and an excellent opportunity to catch up with the rest of the team as well as various running friends from Uni who I only see at the big races.

Monday: 4 mile easy run + physio exercises

Tuesday: 4 x 1km - this time I was running through the trees and kept losing the signal on my watch! Felt a bit better than last week but no way fast enough to suggest I should be asking our team captain for a place on the A team for the Relays. + Physio exercises

Wednesday: 20 min bike + 35km/h, 95rpm. Now I've got my cadence monitor on my bike I'm focusing on getting my rpm consistently over 90. Physio exercises. Evening - 5.5 mile run. IT Band sore. Unsurprisingly I may have overdone it over the last few days!

Thursday: Very short swim! Physio exercises + some quality time with the foam roller to try and ease off the IT Band. This coincided with a very busy work day so not being able to train may have been a blessing in disguise for being able to get everything done!

Friday: Double foam roller day! Knee & IT Band sore. Not the best preparation for race day.

Saturday: Midlands Road Relay Champs. Both my knee and IT Band were sore warming up - not the best start! I was running on the B team and going off 2nd so I spent a good 20 mins jogging and then about 15 mins stretching to try and ease off my IT band and prevent any further damage. By the time I put my racers on ready for my leg the knee seemed ok and I was excited to be standing in the handover pen, part of a big race again! I absolutely love this event and with the sun shining and lots of support out on the course, I eased into my running and kept focused on my form to try and protect my niggling injury. I was so happy to be running and racing again I overtook quite a few people - at least 20 including a few men, which was fantastic motivation to keep me moving through the field. I clocked 16.58 for the 4.3km leg, and finished 11th fastest of all the leg 2 runners. I guess it was just one of those days when I was so relaxed and enjoying it so much that I managed to tap into all my training reserves from last Winter. Or something like that!! It wasn't an outstanding time, but it was a lot better than I expected - I was thinking around the 18 minute mark would be a good result, especially given my minimal training since April. Maybe all those 6am swim sessions, 2 hour brick sessions and long rides in the Winter were worth it after all, despite never having the triathlon season they were done for!
Here's a lovely photo of me running down the hill towards the lake...yes I can tell I've not been exercising much over the last 5 months, oops!

Sunday: Easy potter round the Wrekin with Juliet - having not been round the Wrekin for months and months I just couldn't resist the opportunity to go for a little run. Needless to say my legs were pretty tired by the end  and Sunday evening involved another session with the foam roller.

Looking back I had a pretty good week of training there, but I could really do with less comments saying "IT band/knee sore"! I guess I'll just keep doing what I can and try not to overdo it so it becomes much worse.

Charging Ahead

It's easy to tell I'm getting back towards full training without even looking at my training diary - in our house you can tell just by looking at the washing basket. Weekly washes are a thing of the past once more as the never ending pile of muddy running kit demands regular attention! Back in July I was looking at all my running kit thinking I had too much, that it was taking up too much space, that there was no way I could ever need all this...and then this week reminded me just how many sports bras, shorts, t-shirts, long sleeve tops, rain jackets, 3/4 length tights, long tights, thermal layers, compression layers, winter jackets it is possible to need as a runner in one week!

Oh how happy I am to get back training just as the weather turns.

Seriously though, I am very happy to be back training on a more normal schedule! I would say I'm being sensible, but I'm really charging ahead and trying to do everything I can without overdoing it. And I did have to have a serious word with myself when I was planning to go to the gym on Saturday as a "rest day" and then remembered that this doesn't really count as a rest day when I'm intending to use the cross-trainer, rowing machine and swim!

Monday - Gym: cross-trainer, rowing machine and a lovely long swim. First swim since injury that's been pain-free so I made the most of it!

Tuesday - 5.5 mile run including 4 x 30sec strides. My first attempt at getting the legs going faster...they managed it, but it was a slow run home after.

Wednesday am - 21 min bike. I'm currently watching my DVD of 2012 Tour de France so the length of my bike rides are affected by waiting to the end of a stage!

Wednesday pm - 4.5 mile run. A little tired towards the end.

Thursday - My first session! 4 x 1km off 2min recovery. I honestly don't know what I was thinking...ok, I was thinking I really want to be able to do this and a few months ago this would have been really easy. I clocked vaguely respectable 3.40's for my reps but pretty much crawled home afterwards and spent a romantic evening in with the foam roller

Friday am - 30 min bike. This was going to be a 25 min bike, but I was enjoying Wiggo's final time trial too much!

Friday pm - Easy 30 min run

Saturday - REST.

Sunday - 8.5 mile long run. After last week's 6+ mile run had been quite a struggle I was really surprised to find myself a mile from home and already over 7 miles, without too much difficulty. Progress!

Total - 27.5 miles

This week looks a lot like a respectable week of training. Certainly not as many miles or hard sessions as I hope to be doing in a month or so, but I managed some strides, an actual km interval session and a decent length long run. And to treat myself for the good week's training I ordered some new XC spikes from Sportsshoes.com - the Nike Zoom Waffle XC 10. Last season's spikes were completely destroyed during the National XC up in Sunderland. I actually took the time to wash the snow and mud off, instead of chucking them in the bin, only to discover they were seriously ripped and falling apart. I blame the race, not the spikes though so I've ordered another pair for this season. These promise "optimal water shedding benefits" - which will definitely be needed if the weather of the last week is any indication of the sort of Winter we're in for!

So new spikes on their way and just under 2 weeks now till my first XC race of the season - North Staffs XC at Winsford. I'm hoping this won't be too much for my recovering injury as it's only 5km and I have it on good authority that it's a flat firm course round some playing fields. It's going to be tough, but I've got to start somewhere and after so long off it feels really good to be planning races again!

Clocking up the miles...

That heading sounds a bit more impressive than the reality actually is, but at least I am now clocking up some running miles and I couldn't be happier about it!

Over the last few weeks of my running come back I have very sensibly built up the mileage slowly. I would say it's been hard to be sensible...but it hasn't been hard at all! It's been very very hard to actually run as far as I have, running less would have been much easier.

Week 1 - 3 miles
Week 2 - 6 miles
Week 3 - 7 miles
Week 4 - 11 miles
Week 5 - 25 miles

Ok so it does sound like I haven't been quite so sensible this week, but the knee has been feeling a lot better and I did take a couple of days off mid-week as my IT band was very tight and needed some serious attention from the foam roller. I've also given the cycling a break this week so I don't over do anything by mistake. I also very sensibly resisted the temptation to do a race on Wednesday night - just because I can run 5km certainly doesn't mean my knee will hold up to racing 5km!

The main reason for ramping up the training all of a sudden is that I've been back in Shropshire for a couple of days and running is a great way to catch up with my old friends and revisit the routes I love through the countryside. Over 3 runs I've managed to run with Juliet, Claire, Nellie, Julie & Wayne - and with the exception of Claire I haven't seen any of them in 7 months! Of course having a bit of company and friends chatting away while you run makes running seem a LOT easier so I've ended up running 6 miles a couple of times without really realising how much time had elapsed.
This morning I had a lovely run with Nellie and Julie through the fields and round the country lanes near Nellies, followed by a cup of tea and a good gossip! I do feel really lucky to know so many beautiful running routes and have a huge choice of people to run with.

Flash back! Telford Ladies at Midlands Road Relay Champs April 2011 - a fab team to be part of. L-R: Juliet, me, Michelle, Lisa, Claire, Nellie, Cheryl & Kim

Monday - 3.8 miles
Tuesday - 4.5 miles
Wednesday - Rest, sore IT band
Thursday - Rest, sore IT band
Friday - 4.3 miles
Saturday - 5.7 miles
Sunday - 6.3 miles

Thank you to everybody who's run with me this week, dragged me round and kept my legs moving when I was struggling. I really feel like I've turned a corner with my training this week and hopefully I'll be able to push on from here and get some consistent miles in. I've been given the go ahead from my coach to try a few strides and maybe even a fartlek session this week so fingers crossed that goes well.

I'm currently hopeful I'll be racing the Midlands Road Relay Champs in 2 weeks time (hence the flash back photo!) and I cannot wait. Even if I'm running in the C team, it's giving me motivation to keep up the training even though running 6 miles feels way way harder than it did a few months ago!

Good luck to everyone racing the World Triathlon Champs this coming weekend. At the beginning of 2013 I would never have envisaged not being there, but illness and injury has conspired against me and whilst I was very grumpy about this for a bit, I'm now just very happy to even be contemplating a park run next Saturday.

Team 9 Bar

August Bank Holiday weekend meant making the long awaited trip to Harlech Castle in Wales for my first Team 9 Bar Team Weekend!

I joined Team 9 Bar earlier this year but after the rest of the team had been selected so I already felt a little late to the party, and this had been compounded by missing a few planned 9 Bar races due to injury. Having been quite gutted to miss the 9 Bar events I had in my diary at the start of the season I was really looking forward to finally getting involved and meeting the rest of the team. I'd had to miss supporting some events as well because I couldn't even drive at the time, so I'd never actually met any of the team before this weekend! 9 Bar have been fantastic sponsors, providing me with a never ending supply of delicious 9 Bars. I must confess one reason I was looking forward to this weekend so much was that I wanted to try the new savoury flavoured 9 Bars...and they did not disappoint! The cracked black pepper 9 Bar is a new favourite, overtaking Pumpkin and Nutty at the top of my list.

The plan for the team was for everyone to take part in either the Castle to Castle 40 mile race (especially for the ultra runners in the team), or a lovely 14km run along the beach from Harlech. I had really been looking forward to this as I love new running routes, especially ones out in beautiful countryside and along the coast. However it's been taking me a little longer than I would have like to get over this irritating knee injury and having only managed 20 minutes a couple of days before the weekend, I decided not to stubbornly push on and instead I'd just do my best supporting and cheering off all the runners - especially those who did the 40 mile run! We had a lovely day sat in the sunshine, meeting the rest of the team and having a little paddle in the sea before we got ready for the 9 Bar meal and night out.

Enjoying the bank holiday weekend weather

The Team meal was sooo well organised by Alan & Liz who even arranged a complicated seat swapping schedule so we could all get to know each other without abandoning our partners at any point - I think this was much appreciated by all our partners who were bombarded with sporty chat for an entire day and night!
It was really inspiring to meet so many enthusiastic people who love their sports and train really hard to achieve what they do. From fellow triathletes and runners to BMX bikers and the GB white-water rafting team, there was a real mix of sports and a good number of fellow broccoli lovers (got involved in a great discussion about what meals were improved by broccoli - all of them!)

The evening included free drinks, delicious food, excellent red wine, presentation of awards to the team including many comedy awards and cartoon character trophies! Even better were the goody bags at breakfast next morning - now I have a huge supply of flapjacks and a great bag for putting my XC kit in this Winter!

Delicious & nutritious 9 Bar goodies!

I must say a huge thanks to 9 Bar for their support and to everybody for making me feel so welcome. I now feel super motivated to get back fit and racing again so I do some 9 Bar events! The 9 Bar Chilly Duathlon in November is hopefully an achieveable target and maybe by then I'll be fit enough to get a good result and do my sponsors proud - but regardless it'll be a great to see some of the team again.

Less running, more walking

Well it turns out it's pretty hard to write a blog about training and racing when I'm not doing a lot of training and definitely NO racing whatsoever!

I have kind of been doing some training. Most of it has been physio exercises - strengthening my hips and glutes to help me get back into full training as well as hopefully avoiding future injuries.
The rest of the time I've been doing short runs and feeling ridiculously unfit whilst doing them! I read some great advice from Lauren Fleshman on coming back from injury - that you shouldn't focus on individual days but instead on weeks, and then you'll see progress. So I've been keeping that in mind, trying to keep positive and hoping that it gets a bit easier soon. Whilst the running is currently tough, the cycling is coming together a bit better and I'm consistently managing 30 mins on the bike at 90+rpm without too much irritation to my knee injury.

The good news is that now I'm able to walk and drive (YAY!) after a really irritating period when both those activities were painful. So I've been making the most of my walking abilities and getting out into the countryside for some lovely walks with my other half.

Exploring the woods in Styal

At the start of a 3 hour trek round Tatton Park (can't wait to run there!)

We've been enjoying the Summer all over Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire & The Lake District. And whilst part of me has been thinking 'oooh this would make a lovely running route', I have actually been enjoying just walking.

Exploring Rivington - made it to the top but tough on my knee

When I'm training a couple of times a day, I don't have a lot of energy (or time) left over for long walks. I think I now understand what people mean when they say the enjoy being injured - it does give you a lot more time to spend with your loved ones.

Tempted to give rowing a go at Lake Windermere

As well as exploring and having some slightly less exhausting adventures, it's also been quite nice to have the odd glass of wine without worrying about getting up early to swim the next day!

When I get back into full training this Winter I'll definitely be trying to get a bit more balance into my training plan to make room for long walks - it is still exercise after all! Though I may be a bit less keen when it starts to snow!
That's all for now - hopefully more training to report on next time.

Continuing the comeback...

Comeback to training I mean! Unfortunately I'm not quite ready for the comeback to racing, that's still a few weeks off yet, no matter how keen I am to get back!

This week I made some serious progress and ran for the first time in 8 weeks!

Woweee it was hard. I might actually start listening to people who say running is hard now!  I managed a very slow half mile jog on Monday and it really was very slow. After not running for the best part of 2 months and with only a few short bike rides under my belt, I felt incredibly unfit and just the motion of running felt awkward and tough.

I got back from my run with every intention of completing my physio exercises focusing on strengthening up my hips and glutes, however I only just made it up the stairs before my leg seized up and was incredibly painful to move. I went to bed worried I'd done some further damage, but everything had loosened up the next morning and after a good session with the foam roller, by Wednesday I was able to attempt a 10 min run. This was much more successful and I managed over a mile in 10 mins and felt much more like a runner (albeit a rather slow one!)

Saturday should have been RACE DAY. World Duathlon Champs day. But instead I was limited to a  10 min run again. At least I can do some training now! I managed to go a little bit further in this 10 min run, enjoying speeding round some playing fields in the sunshine - but by the time I was done my lungs were burning and I felt like nothing like the athlete I was back in April when I qualified for the World Duathlon Champs. Ah well, at least the injury is finally healing and hopefully it won't be too long before the fitness returns.

I've now got the go-ahead to build up the training, including some 30 min bike rides and 15 min runs this week. I'm hoping the knee will hold up and I'll be able to progress nicely from here - fingers crossed anyway!

I'm still quite weak on single knee dips so I'll be doing my physio exercises twice a day for the forseeable future!

Training for the week was pretty much the same as last week.
I managed a massive 94 minutes of cycling and 3.4 miles of running - looking forward to building up the training from here on in.

Not my average training diary

If you've read any of my blog posts recently, you've probably gathered that I'm injured.

I've also officially withdrawn from Team GB for the World Duathlon Championships, which are this coming weekend in Ottawa, Canada.
I am absolutely gutted about this! At the start of the year I had a few targets - and given the way my training had progressed from Jan - April, I was hoping that by the time August came round I would be in shape to be in amongst it fighting for a medal in Canada. However things have worked out a little different...for 6 weeks I wasn't able to do any cycling or running - definitely not the best preparation! And having missed most of May with sinusitus and an ear infection I didn't feel like I had a very good base to fall back on. Eventually I accepted that if I went to Canada, I was unlikely to complete the race, never mind putting in a respectable performance.
I was not very happy about this!
But, it's not the end of the World, and there's always next year!

I'm feeling a lot more positive about everything now, which is hugely helped by being able to do some training, finally!

I've been focusing on doing all my physio exercises to strengthen up my hips and glutes to solve the weaknesses that led to the injury in the first place. I'm also building up my cycling, and hoping to do a 5 minute run this week - I have absolutely everything crossed my body is ready for this, because I really cannot stand not being able to run!

Knee accessory sponsored by Rocktape and Athlete Matters - thanks for the awesome tan lines!

Here's last week's training - a bit different to my normal schedule, but wow does it feel good to be doing something! And I managed to include a walk round a deer park, a picnic and some spectating at the Northern Athletics League in Saturday's training plan - well done to all the Altrincham athletes on a great performance, just sorry I wasn't able to contribute to the efforts to gain promotion!

Monday
am: 9 min bike steady. Physio exercises - Hip/glutes
pm: 40 min walk. Physio exercises - Hip/glutes

Tuesday
am: 10 min bike, feeling more like a cyclist! Physio exercises - Hip/glutes/core
pm: 56 min walk. Physio exercises - Hips/glutes

Wednesday
am: 11 min bike. Physio exercises - hips/glutes. Think core exercises are aggravating my knee
pm: 30 min walk. Physio exercises - hips/glutes. Knee sore, tape slipping off

Thursday
am: Physio exercises - hips/glutes. Knee sore so no bike & getting knee re-taped
pm: 40 min walk. 12 min bike at 80rpm, physio exercises - hips/glutes

Friday
am: 13 min bike at 85rpm, physio exercises - hips/glute
pm: 1 hour 10 min walk, physio exercises - hips/glutes

Saturday
am: Physio exercises - hips/glutes. 1 hr 45min walk (plus picnic!)
pm: 14 min bike at 85rpm, physio exercises - hips/glutes

Sunday
am: Rest - every good training schedule needs some rest time, especially after such a long walk yesterday
pm: 30 min walk, physio exercises - hips/glutes


I'm pretty pleased with that as a week's training - I've made good progress and my knee hasn't prevented me from building up my cycling. In total over the week I managed over an hour on the bike, managed to get my RPM over 85, which feels like actual cycling compared to when I started a week ago when I was doing 5 minutes and merely pushing the pedals round gently to try and get my legs moving again.

If things go well over the next week I should be doing 20 minutes on the bike and maybe a couple of runs...I can't wait!!

Top 10 Running Tips for Newbie Runners

Yesterday I received a very surprising message from my best mate.

“How long does it take to run 10km?”

Now she’s not a runner, and as far as I know she’s not harbouring a secret longing to become a competitive runner. I didn’t even know running was an activity she ever did! Last time we discussed exercise, it mostly focused on how boring it was, and how great it was that gyms have a lot of different machines as she gets bored after 6 minutes, so at the gym she can switch from treadmill to bike to cross-trainer to rowing machine and still have spent enough time working out to make it worthwhile.
So without really knowing where this was going, whether she was planning for a race, whether she’d just completed 10km, or this was a question at a pub quiz; I replied covering all bases.

An hour is a pretty good target if you’re running a few times a week, 50 minutes requires some definite training and then under 40 minutes is pretty awesome…

It turned out she’d just run 8km in about an hour – which I was pretty impressed with. If you just suddenly decided to go out for a run and cover that sort of distance/time then that’s a pretty good starting point. I mean, that’s definitely not power walking, that’s running! But of course, she was pretty tired afterwards, not helped by choosing to run on one of the hottest days of the year! And of course this tiredness led her to the conclusion I hear from so many people “running is hard.” Lots of my non-sporty friends ask me how I run so much, how I run full stop, isn’t running really hard etc. All this makes me think it would be worth putting the RUNNING = HARD myth to rest and laying out some of my top tips for getting into running...

Is running hard?

For me, some days running feels really hard, some days it feels really easy. Of course that’s got a lot to do with what my training schedule says and how fast I’m trying to run. To all the beginners out there who are looking at the glorious weather and wanting to enjoy the sun whilst getting fitter, I would say: NO running is not hard! However, you do have to approach it in the right way.

At Uni I ran a social running group for new runners and loved seeing everyone develop, improve their fitness, make new friends and get to know their new university environment. I loved helping newbie runners realise that running doesn’t have to be hard! Starting to run for the first time, especially if it’s been years since school cross country, isn’t always the easiest thing, but if you approach it correctly it doesn’t have to be so horribly hard that it puts you off for another few years. Bearing in mind that when I finally get back running after this injury I’m going to have to take a similar approach, I’ve put together my top tips for running newbies.

1. Start off slow and then pick up the pace. It is definitely not possible to sprint flat out for 20 minutes, although this is generally how young children try to run! You can always get faster if you realise you’ve been running for 5 minutes and still feel comfortable. However if you start off fast and then slow down, lactic acid builds up in your muscles making it seem a lot harder, even when you’ve slowed down.

2. Don’t be afraid to walk. After injuries before I’ve had orders from the physio to run for 1 minute, walk for 1 minute, run for 1 minute etc as part of a gradual build up. Recognise your own fitness level and work to this! You should be increasing your heart rate and your breathing but NOT to the level where you’re gasping for breath and considering whether you’re actually experiencing a heart attack!

3. Set targets. If you ran for 5 minutes on Tuesday, try to run for 6 minutes on Thursday and gradually increase your way up to 20 minutes. Don't forget to bask in the sense of achievement once you've hit that target!

4. Build up gradually! Once you’re feeling comfortable running, don’t suddenly try to run every day – your body won’t know what’s hit it and you risk overdoing it. Instead run every couple of days and as things feel easier move to running every other day. Give your body time to adapt to your new running regime and you’ll find it much easier.

5. Variation – the best thing about running outside instead of going to the gym is the scenery! Find a nice park, some woods, a canal or whatever your local area has to offer. And then mix things up – don’t do the same route every time. Try and explore a new park, or even just run your route backwards to keep things interesting.

6. Variation again – use your new found fitness to enjoy other activities. Cycling, swimming, new gym classes will all feel easier now and provide great variation as well as giving different muscles a work out.

7. Variation, yet again! Maybe you’ve been running on your own, or you’ve roped your best friend into running with you. Either way, there are hundreds of thousands of fellow runners out there and Run England have a great service that helps you find local groups to run with: http://www.runengland.info/

8. ParkRuns – these are fabulous 5km races which are free to enter and take part in hundreds of parks all over the country. Have a look at their website and you’ll probably find one close by. http://www.parkrun.org.uk/ Run by volunteers and full of super friendly runners these start at 9am every Saturday and usually have a social coffee meet-up arranged for after the race. From runners trying to complete 5km for the first time to super speedy regulars, these really are for everyone and they’re FREE! Just look at their UK map to see how many events there are!

9. Get some proper running shoes! I cannot stress this enough! Running is a high impact activity and requires trainers that can absorb the impact and make it a much more comfortable experience for you. Converse trainers don’t count, and those old squash shoes definitely don’t either. But don’t worry about trying to buy the gear when you’re a newbie and not sure what you’re looking for. Most running shops are staffed by runners who are normally delighted somebody else is discovering the brilliance of running and will happily guide you in the right direction. If you’d rather buy online, there are a multitude of retailers to choose from. Simply for the excellent prices, I regularly buy from Sportsshoes.com – look out for their free delivery offers and over 50% off Saucony, Nike, Adidas and many more brands!

10. Enjoy it! Running can be great “me-time” – it’s a great way to unwind from the stresses of the day, listen to music or mull things over whilst getting some fresh air. It can be a great way to meet new friends and build a new social circle. You can set yourself goals and challenge yourself and explore new areas. However hard you want to run, make sure you enjoy yourself. I always do!

All the preparation I can do

4 and a half weeks to go till the World Duathlon Champs and I would love to say I'm ramping up the final phase of my training before the big day...but unfortunately I'm resting my knee and have strict instructions from my physio at Athlete Matters not to train for another week.

 So I've been focusing on preparing in other ways. I've got my flights to Ottawa booked and my kit all printed up ready to go. This year I'm being supported on my sporting journey by 2 fantastic companies that I'm sure we'll get to know a lot more about as they grow over the coming years - hopefully my performances will improve with theirs! Talent Backer and 9 Bar are both proudly displayed on my brand spanking new GB tri suit, and on my normal trisuit as well.

I've also got my non-GB kit printed up as well. I had hoped to be wearing this for the British Triathlon Champs in Liverpool this weekend, but a poorly timed injury has put paid to that plan. I've already raced in my lovely 2XU Ladies Comp Trisuit and can't wait to wear it again.It's got the perfect amount of padding - comfortable for a long bike ride, but not restrictive on the run at all - which is very important for me! I went for a smart black, but they also do some funkier colours - you can check out the selection available from Wiggle here
Now I just need to get over this injury and get racing...and possibly try not to eat too many 9 Bars while I'm not training!

10 ways to become bulletproof!

Becoming bulletproof may be a little hopeful, but after this latest injury set back I realised I need to pay a lot more to all the little details and all the different and often neglected parts of my body that keep me running, cycling and swimming.

So here's what I'm planning...

1. Stretching. Daily. Focusing on hamstrings and hips. I had a phase of doing this before and my coach noticed an increase in my stride length after a month or so. For some reason I've let this slip!

2. Hip exercises. After my latest physio visit I've got a whole host of exercises to strengthen my hip muscles. And having struggled to do them at the physio, I'll definitely be putting a lot of effort into these.

3. Core exercises. Following my tendonitis last year I was prescribed core exercises to strengthen up the adductors/abductors and everything else in between. I was doing these daily but may have slacked off to only 2 or 3 times a week. All the rest of the tranining was just too tiring! Enough excuses - back to every day on these. As soon as my dodgy knee allows anyway!

4. Conditioning Circit. Set by my coach and incorporating foot conditioning, sit ups, planks and a few other delightful exercises that I can conduct in front of the TV! Going to stick to coach's plan on these and do once a week.

5. Foot flexibility. If I'm not running I lose mobility in my feet and ankles really quickly. So I've got the foam football and wobble board out of hibernation and will be doing these daily in front of the TV again. I don't really watch that much TV honest. Just all the sport. Including the Tour de France! So that's a lot of time to be spent doing exercises in front of the TV over the next few weeks. Allez!

6. Yoga. Sometimes I feel as if my body contracts into cycling/running position permanently and if I don't take evasive action I will get stuck like this. Unfortunately work is currently getting in the way of my favourite yoga class, so I've got an interesting looking DVD to try out at home. I did try this they day it arrived from Amazon, but I couldn't actually bend my knee enough to sit on the yoga mat to start with. If it's any good I'll report back as it's taken me ages to pick a yoga dvd from the hundreds of thousands that seem to be available.

7. Pilates. At one stage I was going to pilates once a week and feeling generally stronger and more toned as a result - it was also surprisingly tiring, so I let this slip to focus on running/cycling/swimming/sleeping. Somehow I will make time for this again! Though I may have to make this a winter thing as I was finding it very hard to race at the weekend after a Friday lunchtime Pilates class. Will give it a go at least!

8. Foam Roller. I just bought one today. Another way to feel like I'm really part of the Tour de France, in agony watching some lovely scenery go by (albeit on the TV)

9. Swiss Ball. In an effort to strengthen up my hips I'm going to start sitting on the swiss ball when I'm working on the computer at home. I read an article about how bad sitting on an office chair is for your hips and it made me realise I'm unnecessarily continuing this at home. Enough! Sitting on the swiss ball will be way more fun!

10. Regular Physio. If this was a proper chart-show-style countdown then this would probably be my number 1. The physios at Athlete Matters in Manchester do an amazing job of sorting out my various weaknesses and tight hamstrings. However I think it would make their jobs a lot easier if I would make some more regular visits, plus it's excellent injury prevention. Better to spot the problem and fix it before it stops me running than have to not run for more than a day, ever. I would recommend physios by name, but it's hard enough getting an appointment to see them as it is!


I think I'm going to print this off and stick it up on the wall at home to remind me not to just flop on the sofa after training! At least with not being able to train properly at the moment I do have the time and energy to get into good habits.
If anybody has any injury prevention, body strengthening suggestions, please let me know. I'll try anything to avoid becoming the awful grump that I am when I can't run!
Thanks :)

Frustrations of an Injured Athlete

Ok, this is getting really boring now.

2013 was going to be the year I made triathlon my serious focus. I was going to do all the nice local races, I was going to do a few qualifiers for the World and European Triathlon Champs, and I was aiming to be competitive. I was hoping to do a little better than that as well, but it feels daft to even contemplate those aspirations now.

It didn’t sound like an unreasonable plan when I made it. I’ve swum for as long as I can remember, competing till my mid-teens. After that I ran competitively and I’ve been getting better recently, taking almost 3 minutes off my 10km time over the winter.

And my cycling isn’t atrocious, and I put a serious number of hours in on the bike over the winter.

I’d been paying attention to the little things as well, making sure I was stretching and doing strength and conditioning work. Going to yoga and pilates classes each week.

I’d been making a good crack at nutrition as well – ensuring I refuel properly and get enough protein for the amount of training I’m doing.

I was really excited about the triathlon season.

It’s now 2 days before a race I was really looking forward to – the Bristol Harbourside Sprint Tri.

Having been to Uni in Bristol, I was excited about going back to the city and I was geared up to give this race my best shot. With closed roads and a flat fast course I thought I could have a good bike here. And having spent years running along the paths and roads that make up the course I just couldn’t wait to be back on familiar turf. I also felt it was my best chance of qualifying for the World Triathlon Champs which take place in London in September.

So, 2 days before the race, and I’m hobbling round with an injured knee, and following last night’s physio, a very bruised right leg! (In a good way, I think)

For once I’m being sensible and not racing this weekend. I’m absolutely gutted.

My last 4 triathlons have not happened for a couple of reasons. First up was the sinusitis and ear infection and now it’s my first ever knee injury.

The good news is, the injury isn’t serious and I’ve got some exercises I can do to strengthen up and hopefully avoid a recurrence.

I’ve also got the World Duathlon Champs in 7 weeks, so all is not lost! But I do feel like my triathlon season is a bit of a wash-out now. And after all those 6am swim sessions as well!!

The bad news is, I’m so frustrated! I feel like I’ve let myself down and let down everyone who’s supported me while I put so much energy in to doing something which has, so far brought me very little success. I’ve missed two opportunities to qualify for the World Tri Champs, and one to qualify for the European Tri Champs, plus assorted other races I’d been looking forward to. It feels awful right now!

I know this is just the injured athlete speaking, and this time next week I hope to be back training. I could just do with slightly better timing of injuries.

One day I’ll be writing a race report from a triathlon I actually managed to race.

And in 50 days I have the World Duathlon Champs and between now and then I shall be doing all I can to keep illness and injury at bay so I can make it my best race ever.

Challenges

I was hoping to be typing a blog right now about my first couple of races of the triathlon season and how well they'd gone. Or at least what I'd learnt from them that I could apply to the next race.
Ok to be honest, with the way training had gone over the Winter I was hoping to be happily writing about how I'd had a fantastic race at Grendon and qualified for the GB team for the European championships.

Unfortunately the beginning of the tri season hasn't really happened for me so far.
2 and a half weeks ago I did my first Open Water Swim of the year, in fact my first OWS since the traumatic experience of swimming in the North Sea the same weekend Hurricane Katia blew over and made the water rather choppy - but that's another story!
I had a much better swim a couple of weeks ago at Pennington Flash. It was a little chilly, but after an easy lap of breaststroke to get used to being in the cold and sorting my breathing out I managed a couple of laps of good front crawl before getting far too cold and having to get out.
I was shaking so much by the time I exited the water, after only 1200m or so, that my hands and feet swelled up in the hot shower and I spent the rest of the day shaking and shivvering. That isn't too detract from the fabulous set up at Pennington Flash - this is a new OWS venue this year and it's a great location. Far nicer than Salford Quays with a lovely cafe, excellent changing and shower facilities and lots of friendly coaches on hand and some encouraging support from the safety kayaks.
It seems I just cannot cope with the cold at all - I think I already knew this though!

The next day I had the Wilmslow triathlon. I'd been looking forward to this race for about 6 months! Race day came and it was cold and raining - generally conditions not suited to me! Before the race started I decided I would give the swim everything, take my time putting on an extra waterproof layer in transition and then do my best on the bike and the run. However, as soon as I got in the water for the swim I felt really dizzy and was struggling to swim in a straightline - thank goodness I was by the side of the pool.
I finished the swim, and then stupidly thinking I was just being a wimp, carried on with the race, heading off in the pouring rain whilst freezing cold and soaking wet. I spent most of the bike course trying to remember which side road would take me back to Wilmslow so I could cut my loses and get back in the warm. However I just couldn't remember which side road to take, and ended up completing the whole bike course. At this point I was really annoyed as I felt I'd had two poor performances and wasted a day that could have been spent training more effectively. When I got into transition I was shivering so much I struggled to put my shoes on, but I really wanted to get something out of the day, so I sped off on the run and ended up clocking the fastest female run split of the day by quite some margin. As soon as I finished I jogged into transition, grabbed my kit and headed for home, still shivering.
On reflection I should have called it quits after the swim, as I clearly wasn't well, but I was so desperate to race and get the experience that would make the next tri less nerve-wracking.

Since then I've had sinusitis and an ear infection that has stopped me training altogether and is refusing to clear up.
It's been rather painful and has made me very dizzy and very weak, plus one of the unfortunate effects of the dizziness is that I can't sleep as I feel like I'm moving.
This weekend I had my fingers crossed for a miraculous recovery and packed up the car on Saturday to head down South for the Grendon Sprint Tri - a qualifier for the European Sprint Tri Champs.
Looking at the start list I felt I had a good chance of qualifying if I put in a good performance, and seeing how I was very well rested, I thought if my ears and sinuses would just stop hurting and the dizziness would go away, then this was of course possible.
I am of course an over-optimistic idiot!
I got to my parents house and sensibly decided to take the bike out for a lap of the village, just to check how recovery was going, before going for a little run to ensure I could actually run.
Straight away I realised how ill and weak I was.
However I still wanted to race - I hadn't trained hard all Winter not to race!
But then I thought about it sensibly - if I felt like this, there was no way I would consider a local 5km cross country race. Therefore it was absolute madness to be considering a triathlon where I'd be swimming in very cold water!
Initially I was really gutted, but then I realised that this could be a blessing in disguise. Without racing this weekend I would be well rested for the Deva Triathlon on 2nd June - my first attempt at an Olympic distance triathlon, and my first opportunity to qualify for the World Triathlon Champs.
Plus there are a number of other qualification races for the European Champs, including a couple in September when the water temperature should be a lot better which will doubtless suit me more!

A few days later, and I'm not feeling quite so positive! Another trip to the doctors and I'm on to my second course of antibiotics with strict instructions not to get water in my ears until I'm better. I've also had swabs to check for infections in case I've picked up anything particularly nasty.

Back in 2012 when I was entering all the races for 2013, I thought to myself, woebetide anybody who gets ill in June, when the majority of the qualifiers for the World Champs are. And here I am, 2 days away from June, 4 days away from my first Olympic distance triathlon, feeling very unwell indeed!

I can't even begin to describe how disappointing this is.
Such is life!